foot pain

Reassessing

November 13, 2013 by Michelle 15 Comments

I’m hanging up my half marathon training shoes for the rest of this year. There will be no half for me on December 8.

As you can imagine that is not an easy thing for me to see in print – not an easy decision, but it’s the right choice. While my foot is making progress, my attempt at returning to half marathon training has proven to be one step forward, two steps back. I may be able to kill my track workouts, but maintaining race pace on the unforgiving surface of pavement and roads is proving to be a different story – I can get 4 miles at best…clearly a problem when the goal is 13.1! And as I said to Coach Bennett during our last call, the one thing I am clear about is that I do not want to have to will myself through another race that my body isn’t prepared to handle. I’ve done that and know I don’t have the mental energy, nor desire to do it again.

So I may eye a couple of 5Ks before the year is over – after all I’ve only got 2 races left to complete the #13in2013 Challenge – but there will be no long distance races for me until next year.

Time to start building my 2014 race calendar!

Filed Under: #13in2013, choices, foot pain, half marathon training, injuries, listening to your body

Not another rest day!

October 28, 2013 by Michelle 16 Comments

I have not run since last Tuesday and I’m starting to get cranky!

By Friday morning I’d come to the decision that with just 6 weeks until my December half, I didn’t want to risk further injury running the local 5K. I had to admit to myself that my foot was still sore and rest was the best bet. A conversation with Coach Bennett and a review of the upcoming training plan confirmed that this was the right call.

But I can’t take it any more – I’ve run a grand total of 9.55 miles since the B.A.A. Half. At first I really welcomed the days off, but that only lasted a couple of days… then I started to get edgy. My hat is off to those of you who have sat on injured reserve for much longer! I’m grateful to be able to head back out this morning.

What’s the longest you’ve gone without running because of an injury?

Filed Under: foot pain, half marathon training, Recovery

Thursday Thoughts

October 24, 2013 by Michelle 12 Comments

Small Changes — I’m a couple of days behind on my #OneSmallChange update. So I was on a roll with Week 1‘s daily planks and then Week 2‘s keeping my coffee table clutter free, but I hit a bump in the road with Week 3’s change to up my daily water intake. Don’t know why I have such a tough time with this one, but I’ve decided to re-commit to this change for week 4 and see if I have better luck.

Race Debate — I’ve done very little running in the past week and half – in fact I’ve run exactly 3 times. I’ve been trying to give my bum foot and knee as much TLC as possible. And while the knee feels pretty good, my foot was sore after Tuesday’s run. I saw my massage therapist and she treated it and gave me the hairy eyeball when I floated the idea of running in this Sunday’s 5k. The Canton Fall Classic is one of my favorite races – it’s local so I get to see and catch up with a lot of friendly faces – I’d really hate to miss running it. I may hold off till Sunday morning to make the final call on this one.

And speaking of races... I did register for one more half for this year – it’s December 8. Yes I recognize that living in New England the first weekend of December can bring everything from freakishly mild temps to snow, but I’m going to cross my fingers and dig out my Yak-Traks just in case 🙂 My half marathon performance this year has left me underwhelmed to say the least and I’d like to take one last shot at putting together a good race before closing the book on 2013.

So tell me — what’s your best trick for making sure you get enough water? Would you run on Sunday?

Filed Under: #13in2013, Canton Fall Classic, foot pain, hydration, massage, Small changes, to race or not

Playing catch up

May 2, 2012 by Michelle 10 Comments


Source: Google Images

I’m starting to get that hamster wheel feeling again where I’m running as fast as I can to stay on top of everything! This is literally the third post I’ve started in the past couple of days…the previous two are lying in Blogger ghetto unfinished…hopefully this one will have a better fate.

So I’ve mentioned before that I’m playing race coordinator for my sons’ school 5k and Fun Runs. Well the big event is Sunday and the running joke among our race committee is whether we’ll be bald by then (from pulling our hair out!) Seriously between the last minute requests, finding enough volunteers, and managing all the little logistical details – this has been an almost all-consuming activity in this final week (trust me I have the laundry pile and empty refrigerator to prove it!). At least it looks like Mother Nature will cooperate!

I was just looking back over my April runs and I’m underwhelmed. I had hoped to hit higher mileage, and while I’m feeling pretty good about my speed work and finally getting some hill work in, my long runs have been lackluster. I’ve been dealing with some quirky foot pain on the top inside of my right foot that has led me to cut two of my long runs short. Thankfully, ice, KT Tape, rest and Monday’s trip to the massage therapist all seem to be helping. A nice thing about my April runs is that I did a handful with my friend E – the runs have been chatting and fun, a nice change of pace for this typically solo runner. And, on Saturday, I helped nudge E to her longest distance to date (7 miles!), while getting 8 1/2 pain-free miles for myself. Yesterday was another 5 1/4 comfortable miles, so I’m encouraged I can crank things up a little in May!

I have to give a huge shout-out to my husband J who ran his first trail race on Sunday and placed 3rd AG, and 22nd overall! The boys and I had a ball cheering him on and I love the fact that he’s already scouring race listings for his next trail run 🙂

The “must get done” list is long today, but I’m determined to get my strength training in. Luckily it’s my weekly TRX Rip Trainer class so I’m less likely to put it off than if I were on my own today. I’ve got 6 miles of negative splits on the plan for tomorrow, so fingers-crossed my foot continues to respond well, then I can look to go back to double digits on Saturday.

How’s your week going?

Did you have the April you hoped for?

Filed Under: family running, foot pain, playing race director, Schedule vs Training, to do list